High school softball: Enterprise emerges from 2A loss bracket

SPANISH FORK — It's not very common for a team to drop into the one-loss bracket on the first day of tournament play and then end the second day still on the field.

In the 2A softball tournament being played at Spanish Fork Complex this weekend, there were two teams that did just that.

Enterprise defeated Parowan 11-1 in Friday's final one-loss bracket game. It was the fourth game of the day for both teams.

"It's a long day. The sun is shining and it's taken a lot of energy out of us," Enterprise coach Duane Wallin said afterward. "For these girls to stay focused and just continue to play good softball today to get us to have a chance for tomorrow was just tremendous."

Wallin added that the idea of earning that opportunity seemed nearly out of reach on Friday morning.

"When you look at it from the start of the day, it almost seems insurmountable," he said, "but you take it one game at a time."

Parowan, the third-place team out of Region 13, defeated Beaver, South Summit and North Sevier before meeting Enterprise, Region 13's top seed. The Wolves, who were 16-5 during the regular season and undefeated in region action, faced Kanab, Gunnison and Millard on Friday prior to their third matchup of the year with the Rams.

"It's a lot of pressure to beat (a team) three times in a row. Three of our games today we had to do that," Wallin said, noting that the Wolves had seen both Kanab and Millard twice already in region play. "Maybe it gave us a mental edge."

Enterprise was led throughout the day by its senior leaders. Kelsey Lee earned the final three pitching victories of the day after freshman Dakota Robinson won the first game. Lee also hit two doubles and a home run on Friday and struck out seven Rams in the final game.

"Kelsey Lee had a great day at the bat plus pitching," Wallin said. "Capri Christensen behind the plate — that's hard for a catcher to have that gear on for four games on a hot day. Shalee (Farnsworth) did well, too. And then our two freshmen really stepped up — Jaycee Reber and Dakota Robinson."

Christensen was perfect at the plate in two of the four games and she hit three doubles on the day. Farnsworth was 2-for-3 with a homer in the win over Millard.

The Wolves will now face Grand for the first time of the year. That game will be played at 10 a.m. at the Spanish Fork Complex. The winner will meet San Juan in the championship game at 12:15 p.m.

With such a short amount of time to prepare for the next game, Wallin had a simple message for his players.

"I told them to get something to eat and go get in the Jacuzzi to try to relax and heal some of today's injuries."

sthomas@desnews.com